USA PATRIOT Act
enabling act for the US empire
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act
Uncle Sam's Army Packages of Anthrax Terorrized Representatves Into Obliterating Tolerance Act
related page:
- Anthrax and the "USA PATRIOT"
Act
www.oilempire.us/anthrax.html
"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal."
-- Martin Luther King Jr."A president of the United States has just assumed what amounts to dictatorial power."
--William Safire (Republican former speechwriter for President Nixon), New York Times, "Seizing dictatorial power", November 15, 2001"The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures...The number of cases in which an internal necessity exists for having recourse to such a law is in itself a limited one."
-- Adolf Hitler, promise to the Reichstag (Parliament) on the occasion of the "Enabling Act," the imposition of "temporary" dictatorship following the Reichstag Fire. www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/enabling.htm
Bill
of Rights to the United States Constitution |
|
Amendment I |
Free speech isn't a reality when the government is reading our emails, tapping our phones, and intimidating the public into being quiet about crimes of state. |
| Amendment II A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. |
The Second Amendment was established to balance federal power with local militia. The federalizing of the National Guard (1973) overturned this right. |
| Amendment III No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. |
The Patriot Act's "sneak and peek" provisions allowed federal agents to snoop in your home without notice and without a warrant. |
| Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. |
The ECHELON program of the National Security Agency made this right moot a long time ago. |
| Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. |
Corruption in the judicial system is so entrenched that this right also vanished decades ago. |
| Amendment VI In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. |
The declaration from the dictator that certain persons can be designated "enemy combatants" removed from any judicial oversight is an invalidation of this right. This abuse of power could easily be scaled up to encompass much larger numbers of victims. |
| Amendment VII In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. |
The "enemy combatants" declaration shows that this right has been invalidated by the regime. |
| Amendment VIII Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. |
A peaceful protestor at the 2000 Republican National Convention was detailed on a one million dollar bail for an alleged misdemeanor. This right to be free from cruelty is a nice idea. |
| Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. |
We the People have the power to take back the country, if we really want to. |
| Amendment X The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. |
The Constitution did not provide for the establishment of a National Security State beyond the rule of law. |
The USA PATRIOT Act is similar to the Enabling Act passed in Germany in 1933 after the "burning of the Reichstag" (parliament), since both were after a terrorist act blamed on foreign infiltrators. It's not an exact parallel, since the UPA isn't quite as draconian as the Enabling Act, but it is a close historical analogy.
However, the pending "Domestic Security Enhancement Act" - also known as "Patriot Two" - would be closer to Hitler's Enabling Act. The DSEA allows for stripping US citizens of citizenship if they are assumed to be acting for a foreign power as inferred by their conduct, which is an extremely dangerous definition. Once stripped of citizenship, Americans could then be held in indefinite detention. This is very similar to the legal pretexts used in Nazi Germany to round up dissidents, and later, to deport Jews to the death camps.
Congressional Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is the only Presidential candidate who called for REPEAL OF THE PATRIOT ACT. This position was on the front of his web page, which is at www.kucinich.us
The unPatriotic Act was promulgated on the fiction that the government couldn't "connect the dots" of clues about 9/11, and that it, and the Homeland Security Department, were needed to prevent another 9/11 from happening again. Failure to question 9/11 is tacit support for the USA PATRIOT ACT.
Patriot Act vs. German Enabling Act
The Decrees of 1933
(a) The February 28 Decree. One of the most repressive acts of the new Nazi government, this one allowed for the suspension of civil liberties ....The president was persuaded that the state was in danger and, hence, that the emergency measures embodied in the decree were necessary. Even though under Art. 48 of the constitution, the decree would have been withdrawn once the so-called emergency had passed, any hope of this happening was prevented by the establishment of Hitler's dictatorship following the Enabling Act (see below). It was in fact never withdrawn and remained until the end as an instrument of Nazi terror against ordinary citizens who ran foul of the regime.
ARTICLE 1. In virtue of paragraph 2, article 48,* of the German Constitution, the following is decreed as a defensive measure against communist acts of violence , endangering the state:
Sections 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 of the Constitution of the German Reich are suspended until further notice. Thus, restrictions on personal liberty [114], on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press [118], on the right of assembly and the right of association [124], and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications [117], and warrants for house-searches [115], orders for confiscation as well as restrictions on property [153], are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.
*Article 48 of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919: If public safety and order in Germany are materially disturbed or endangered, the President may take the necessary measures to restore public safety and order, and, if necessary, to intervene with the help of the armed forces. To this end he may temporarily suspend, in whole or in part, the fundamental rights established in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153 ...........
Patriot Act:
Section 218 which amends the "probable cause" requirement before conducting secret searches or surveillance to obtain evidence of a crime;
Sections 215, 218, 358, and 508 which permit law enforcement authorities to have broad access to sensitive mental health, library, business, financial, and educational records despite the existence of previously adopted state and federal laws which were intended to strengthen the protection of these types of records;
Sections 411 and 412 which give the Secretary of State broad powers to designate domestic groups as "terrorist organizations" and the Attorney General power to subject immigrants to indefinite detention or deportation even if no crime has been committed; and
Sections 507 and 508 which impose a mandate on state and local public universities who must collect information on students that may be of interest to the Attorney General.
Libraries post Patriot Act warnings
Santa Cruz branches tell patrons that FBI may spy on them
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/10/MN14634.DTL
Congress Expands FBI Spying Power
By Ryan Singel
Story location: www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html
02:00 AM Nov. 24, 2003 PT
Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot
Act, reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according
to critics, shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and
the courts.
Post Office Wants to ID the Mail
By Ryan Singel
Story location: www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,60966,00.html
02:00 AM Oct. 27, 2003 PT
Sending a letter may soon require more than a 37-cent stamp. It might
also require a valid photo ID
It Didn't Take Long, Did It?
By Greg Palast
GregPalast.com
Friday 15 July 2005
Well, it didn't take long, did it?
In the USA, the curtain opened on new anti-terror follies Wednesday when three Senate committees, in blustery response to the London bombings, voted to extend the power of the FBI under the Patriot Act to obtain library records without a subpoena. Exactly what suicide bomber or sleeper cell has so far been exposed by this powerful new intelligence weapon, we are not told. Did Osama fail to return his copy of 'Harry Potter'? Or 'Hijacking for Idiots'?
What we have here is the great con: to get us to pull each other's hair over the sanctity of library card privacy. We're dragged into some nit-wit debate over the "balance between security and civil liberties" - with the defenders of America against terrorism sneering at the sissies from the ACLU.
Civil libertarians are all shook up that the FBI is going through our summer reading list. My concern is deeper. What I want to know is, who at the FBI is poring over my choice of novels, how much do we pay this guy and why isn't he reviewing Swiss and Pakistani bank transfer records instead
| The unPatriotic Act |
http://bordc.org/patriot2.htm
Summaries of "Victory Act" and other reincarnations
of Patriot II
Download the "Son of Patriot Act" - read how the Bush / Ashkroft regime wants to abolish civil liberties under the cover of another "terrorist" attack
www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/PA2draft.txt (text format)
www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/PA2draft.html (html format)
www.pbs.org/now/politics/patriot2-hi.pdf (PDF format - large file)
www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/USAPA.html
Center for Law and the Public's Health
Model Health Emergency Law
www.publichealthlaw.net/
a law that is worse than the Patriot Act
Analyses of "unPatriotic Act 2"
"With the INS reorganized as of March 1 and operating
within the Department of Homeland Security, policies against immigrants
and citizens that are undemocratic, un-American, and inhumane are likely
to continue unabated. And, if and when the Domestic Security Enhancement
Act of 2003 (already nick-named Patriot II), becomes law, any
American citizen, American citizens who support the lawful activities
of an organization the executive branch deems "terrorist" may
be presumptively stripped of their citizenship and deported to parts unknown
or detained by INS indefinitely."
The War on Immigrants: Detained in America By ELAINE CASSEL
www.counterpunch.org/cassel03122003.html
www.counterpunch.org/neale04102003.html
April 10, 2003
A Patriot Attack on America - Ashcroft's War on the Bill of Rights
By GEOFFREY NEALE
With public attention riveted on the war in Iraq, politicians may be planning
to launch a sneak attack against the American people.
Their weapon: Patriot II, a piece of legislation that would give the government
frightening new powers, including the ability to make secret arrests,
issue secret subpoenas, create a vast new DNA database and even strip
Americans of their citizenship and deport them.
Formally called The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (DSEA),
the legislation has been shrouded in secrecy, prompting civil liberties
groups to fear the government has been waiting for an opportunity -- such
as war or another terrorist attack -- to rush it through Congress.
Nat Hentoff, "Red Alert for the Bill of Rights"
www.villagevoice.com/issues/0311/hentoff.php
www.villagevoice.com/specials/civil_liberties/
Mike Ruppert's analysis - new Patriot Act 5 to 10 times
worse than the original
www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/022503_patriot_2.html
Son of the Patriot Act - We have to destroy this village
to save it
www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/PA2sonofPA.html
Patriot 2 and encryption / authentication
www.politechbot.com/p-04456.html
Patriot Act II's Attack on Citizenship
www.counterpunch.org/mariner03082003.html
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/civil_rights/govpower_enhancement_act.html
http://baltimorechronicle.com/media_patriot2_mar03.shtml
why there is almost no coverage of the next unPatriotic Act
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
www.bordc.org
working to undo the unPatriotic Act and to prevent its sequel from being
enacted